Countdown to the Louisiana Food & Wine Festival

The Louisiana Food & Wine Festival, a culinary and beverage celebration hosted by Visit Lake Charles, takes place March 12–15. The festival is a showcase of culinary expertise, beverage options and music that highlights Louisiana’s unique culture and heritage. There will be celebrity guest chefs, local chefs, celebrity winemakers/proprietors, artisans, farmers, musicians, local craft spirits and beers, along with renowned wine, spirits and beer brands from around the world.  

“The festival is now just over 30 days away and we’re so excited to be moving to March with cooler weather and in crawfish season,” says Jan Gourley, festival founder and director. “We’re currently planning Crawfish & Cocktails to be a part of the VIP Experience at the Grand Tasting, sponsored by Louisiana Crawfish, which will be a huge crawfish boil and festival signature cocktails. Louisiana Crawfish spokesperson, Chef Yvette Bonnano, will also be doing a special crawfish tasting as part of the VIP Experience.” 

Schedule of Events: 

Thursday, March 12 – Louisiana’s Best Taste Awards  

New Location: L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles, 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

An interactive walk-around of delicious creations from some of the state and region’s best chefs! This professionally judged event will reveal the winners of Louisiana’s Best Taste Awards. Beverage tasting stations include wine, beer, spirits and craft cocktails, along with indoor and outdoor seating and tasting stations with live music.  

Friday, March 13 – Fire on the Lake 

Bord du Lac Park, Lake Charles, 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

A quintessential Louisiana celebration of live fire cooking, overlooking beautiful the beautiful shores of Lake Charles. The event features a variety of slow-cooked, grilled, and smoked meats and Louisiana seafood and vegetarian creations from some of the South’s most celebrated pitmasters, chefs and grill masters. Enjoy unlimited tasting bites, wine, beer and spirits with a souvenir glass.  

Saturday, March 14 – Louisiana Food & Wine Festival, Grand Tasting  

Bord du Lac Park, Lake Charles 2:00-5:00 p.m. 

VIP Experience at the Grand Tasting, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., Bord du Lac Park, Lake Charles, includes Grand Tasting general admission ticket with Early Access to Grand Tasting at 1:30 p.m. 

A fun afternoon of culinary and beverage tastings, with live music in the beautiful surroundings of the Bord du Lac Park. Tickets are all-inclusive for food and beverage tastings, including a souvenir glass for unlimited beverage tastings from hundreds of wines, beer and spirits exhibitors. The Cooking Demo Stage will showcase some of Louisiana’s best chefs from regions around the entire state. Enjoy an Artisan Market and live zydeco music from Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie. 

Sunday, March 15 – Sunday Jazz Brunch  

New Location: Ember Grille & Wine Bar, L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles 

This signature Jazz Brunch is one like no other, with an all-inclusive priced ticket featuring unlimited beverage tastings with a souvenir glass, live music, a lavish brunch with carving stations, Louisiana Seafood stations, made-to-order omelet stations, a variety of desserts and more. There will be live jazz music by The Sharp 9’s. A variety of the festival’s official beverage partners will participate with bottomless Bloody Mary’s, Mimosas, sparkling wines, sprits, wine, and beer and more.  

SOWELA Technical Community College is the festival’s official charity partner, with a portion of the proceeds from the festival being donated to SOWELA. The Imperial Calcasieu Museum is also a festival charity partner, with 100% of the proceeds from the Wine & Whiskey Pull on Saturday, March 14, at the Grand Tasing, donated directly to the museum. The most up-to-date festival information is available on the website, Louisiana Food & Wine Festival and the festival’s social media channels Facebook and Instagram.